When daydreaming about superpowers, most people say they would like to know how to fly or be able to turn invisible. While these are nice, I would go for something completely different. If I could have a superpower, I would choose high intelligence and understanding of mechanical and electrical engineering, like Tony Stark who became Iron Man. This ability would be extremely useful in many ways. Because of the lack of supervillains, it would make more sense to apply it practically. Unlike most powers, though, superhuman intelligence is useful even without supervillains, which is one reason I would prefer to have this power.
One of the things I would build first is an inexpensive low-orbit shuttle built for commercial low-orbit flights. This industry is finally being taken over by relatively small private companies who are ramping up the competition and stepping ahead of NASA. My superpower would give me the means to take this industry by storm and create a hugely successful company that would benefit humans across the world. The next step for that company would logically be space flight and building space colonies. This would be useful to solve the world's overpopulation problem, as well as allowing us to retrieve and research new materials for new power sources and building stronger structures.
Another venture that superhuman intelligence would enable would be deep-sea exploration. With better technology, marine biologists and researchers would be able to search the most remote parts of our world and learn more about how ecosystems work in these unexplored areas. Undersea cities may even become possible, which would afford another solution for the overpopulation issue.
Finally, the third invention I would create to put this power to use is creating a type of technology that disables other weapons, somewhat similar to an electromagnetic pulse. Building arms is easy and continuously more destructive. Peace will never be reached by means of violence when it is in the hands of humans. This weapon-disarming system would be able to handle weapons of all types, from incoming ballistic missiles to mines that have been buried for decades and pose a threat to unknowing passersby. This tool could be the first step to the disarming of the nations' weapon systems and lead closer to peace.
I am not particularly drawn to Tony Stark, even though he has this power, mostly because of his character. He is arrogant and somewhat of a jerk, and not very wise. Anyone who thinks that they can take on terrorists on their own is doomed to reap the rewards of their own hubris. It is true that eventually Stark joins with the government in the Marvel Civil War and advocates for the registration of superheroes with the government, but his cocky attitude never leaves. For this reason I am not a huge fan of Tony Stark/Iron Man as hero.
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